• Use the established SOPs for victim identification to proactively identify trafficking victims by screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, including undocumented migrants.
• Fully implement the NRM and train judicial and law enforcement authorities, as well as civil society and other victim protection actors, on its use.
• Increase front-line officials’ capacity throughout Morocco to proactively identify trafficking victims and refer them to care, including both internal trafficking cases and cross-border trafficking cases, distinct from migrant smuggling crimes.
• Ensure potential and identified trafficking victims are efficiently referred to protection services, including but not limited to shelter, psycho-social services, and legal aid.
• Increase efforts to cooperate with civil society regarding victim identification and protection efforts and when developing government anti-trafficking policies.
• Increase the availability and provision of specialized services – including but not limited to shelter, psycho-social services, legal aid, and repatriation assistance – for all trafficking victims and increase partnership and support to entities providing protection services.
• Allocate significantly more resources and personnel to the national anti-trafficking commission.
• Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, including complicit officials, which should involve significant prison terms.
• Ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, such as prostitution or immigration violations.
• Improve law enforcement data collection to accurately report the government’s anti-trafficking statistics and disaggregate data on trafficking crimes and migrant smuggling.

The government increased anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Law 27.14 criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of five to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine between 10,000 and 500,000 dirhams (DH) ($990 and $49,490) for offenses involving adult victims, and 20 to 30 years’ imprisonment and a fine between 100,000 and one million DH ($9,900 and $98,980) for those involving child victims. These penalties were sufficiently stringent, and, regarding sex trafficking, commensurate with penalties for other grave crimes, such as rape.

Despite improvements in data collection, authorities did not always disaggregate between human trafficking and migrant smuggling crimes; thus, the government’s reporting may include non-trafficking crimes. In 2024, the government investigated 204 suspects (seven for sex trafficking and 197 for unspecified forms of trafficking) in new trafficking cases, an increase compared with 79 new trafficking investigations involving 119 suspects in 2023. The government continued investigating 268 cases initiated in previous years. The government initiated the prosecution of 213 alleged traffickers, an increase compared with the prosecution of 171 alleged traffickers in 2023. Of the 213 new prosecutions in 2024, 147 were for sex trafficking and 66 for forced labor (including three for forced begging, 13 for “practices similar to slavery,” and 19 for forced criminality). Courts convicted 60 traffickers in 2024, a slight decrease from the conviction of 82 traffickers in 2023. The 60 convictions included 53 sex trafficking convictions and seven forced labor convictions (including six for forced begging and one for forced criminality). Courts upheld 34 convictions upon appeal. The government did not provide sentencing data for convicted traffickers. The government did not report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in human trafficking crimes. The government did not report any progress made in a previous judicial investigation into an allegedly complicit Moroccan diplomat.

The General Prosecutor continued to ensure there were two prosecutors specialized in handling trafficking cases in every court of appeal across the country, resulting in 44 trafficking-specialized prosecutors across Morocco. During the reporting period, the government continued to engage in bilateral law enforcement efforts including through extraditions. In addition, the anti-trafficking commission signed a new bilateral cooperation agreement with Cote d’Ivoire to cooperate on trafficking investigations and victim protection; the two governments were coordinating with an international organization to develop an implementation plan at the end of the reporting period. Reports persisted that front-line officials, including law enforcement, continued to lack an understanding of trafficking, impeding efforts to identify and investigate trafficking cases. The government coordinated trainings, at times in cooperation with international organizations, for prosecutors, border officials, law enforcement, labor inspectors, and other officials on trafficking indicators, investigations, and related topics.

The government increased victim protection efforts. In 2024, the government identified 452 potential trafficking victims; the government referral mechanism determined 229 were confirmed trafficking victims, compared with the identification of 169 confirmed victims in 2023. Of the 452 potential victims, 259 were potential sex trafficking victims, 78 were potential forced labor victims, and 115 were potential victims of unspecified forms of trafficking. As part of the implementation of the NRM, the government used a guide for identifying potential victims and a guide to identify child victims for criminal justice practitioners; during the reporting period, the government also developed a guide for interviewing victims in coordination with an international organization. However, the government did not report how widely these identification guides were socialized with front-line responders or implemented; international organizations and civil society continued to report front-line responders were unaware of these procedures and rarely able to proactively identify trafficking victims. Through an NGO receiving government and international organization support, the government provided shelter for 34 victims. In addition, the government provided medical assistance for 53 victims, psycho-social assistance to 14 victims, legal assistance to 156 victims during criminal proceedings, and legal assistance to 40 victims during civil proceedings; the government reported referring an additional 15 victims to NGO shelters. Each branch of the National Security Directorate maintained a support unit for women victims of violence to ensure a more victim-centered approach to sensitive cases, including cases involving female trafficking victims, and their referral to services.

The government made progress expanding the availability of specialized shelter and services, but reports indicated weak proactive identification and underutilization of available shelters impeded overall protection efforts. During the reporting period, the government, in collaboration with an international organization, finalized and approved standard procedures and guidelines for shelter operations. The government continued coordinating with NGOs, international organizations, and foreign donors to establish specialized shelters for trafficking victims, with plans to eventually establish specialized shelters in all 12 provinces. In April 2024, the government partnered with an NGO and international organization to enable the existing NGO-managed violence against women and girls shelter in Tangier to provide specialized services to trafficking victims; however, reports indicated the shelter was underutilized, and shelter management issues further impeded the provision of services to trafficking victims. The government also identified a partner NGO and shelter space for a second specialized shelter in Fez; the shelter was finished but not yet operational at the end of the reporting period. The government continued to provide services to female and child victims of violence – including potential trafficking victims – at 40 reception centers staffed by nurses and social workers at major hospitals, as well as in Ministry of Justice (MOJ) protection units in Moroccan courts. Moroccan law enforcement agencies reportedly continued to utilize focal points to work directly with these reception centers and MOJ units, and they continued to use a list of NGO service providers to whom authorities could refer trafficking victims for care. The government reported these services were available to adult male victims but acknowledged the shelters were more difficult for male victims to access. Prosecutors in the courts of first instance and the courts of appeal – in coordination with the Ministry of Health – had the authority to order trafficking victims be placed in the care of a hospital or civil society organization. The government continued to rely heavily on NGOs and international organizations to provide assistance to victims and provided some financial assistance to organizations assisting child labor and child trafficking victims, but it did not otherwise report providing financial resources to organizations assisting trafficking victims. The government continued to encourage victims to cooperate in investigations against traffickers, including through protecting victims’ privacy and providing legal assistance and physical security; the government did not report the number of victims who chose to do so during the reporting period, beyond providing initial statements to law enforcement, nor did it report if victims received restitution from traffickers. The government reported prosecutors could pursue restitution in trafficking cases and victims could file civil suits against traffickers; courts of first instance ordered compensation to 17 victims, and courts of appeal ordered compensation to six victims in 2024.

The government assisted in the voluntary repatriation of three foreign trafficking victims in coordination with an international organization. In addition, the government repatriated two Moroccan trafficking victims identified abroad. The government did not report providing legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims of trafficking to countries where they might face retribution or hardship, aside from coordinating with international organizations on asylum and refugee cases and authorizing foreign victims to remain in Morocco until the end of judicial proceedings; the government did not report how many temporary residence permits it issued to trafficking victims during the reporting period. Due to inadequate proactive screening and identification measures among vulnerable populations such as migrants, the government did not take effective measures to prevent the inappropriate penalization of potential victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, such as immigration violations or prostitution offenses. Undocumented migrants reported authorities’ lack of sensitivity to victims caused reluctance to report trafficking due to fear of arrest or deportation.

The government maintained prevention efforts. The national anti-trafficking commission, which was administered by MOJ and included two representatives from civil society, coordinated the government’s efforts to combat trafficking; the commission met five times in 2024. However, civil society and international organizations reported the anti-trafficking commission had inadequate resources and personnel to effectively coordinate the government’s anti-trafficking efforts. The government continued implementing the 2023-2030 national strategy to combat and prevent trafficking and an accompanying 2023-2026 implementation plan in coordination with international organizations; funding to implement the strategy and implementation plan came from individual ministries’ budgets. The government conducted public awareness campaigns, which included film screenings, seminars, billboards, and social media outreach, at times in coordination with international organizations. The government maintained a 24-hour toll-free hotline staffed by social workers to report potential trafficking cases, and the Directorate General for National Security established a digital reporting platform for all crimes, including trafficking, in June 2024; however, international organizations reported the hotline was periodically inactive during the reporting period. The government did not report how many calls or reports the hotline or digital platform received during the reporting period.

The government continued to implement Law No. 19.12, which required protections for foreign domestic workers, including valid work contracts that met national labor standards, in order for a work visa to be granted. Law 19.12 also banned the use of intermediaries to negotiate recruitment of foreign workers, or Moroccan workers going abroad, on behalf of the intended employer and recruitment agencies in order to reduce vulnerability to fraudulent recruitment. Article 480 of the Labor Code prohibited all worker-paid recruitment fees. The government did not report efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts or extraterritorial commercial sexual exploitation and abuse by foreign tourists in Morocco. The government provided anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel. Moroccan peacekeeping forces received anti-trafficking training and operated under a “no tolerance” standard for troops involved in UN peacekeeping missions. Although not explicitly reported as trafficking, an international organization reported receiving two sexual exploitation allegations with potential trafficking indicators against Moroccan peacekeepers deployed to the UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2023 and 2021 and four allegations in the Central African Republic in 2024, 2023, and 2021; the government and UN closed investigations in two cases in the reporting period due to unsubstantiated information, and the other allegations were pending investigation and review at the end of the reporting period.

Trafficking affects all communities. This section summarizes government and civil society reporting on the nature and scope of trafficking over the past five years. Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Morocco, and traffickers exploit victims from Morocco abroad. Traffickers, including parents and other intermediaries, exploit Moroccan children in Morocco in sex trafficking and forced labor, including domestic servitude and forced begging. Some Moroccan boys endure forced labor while employed as apprentices in the artisanal, textile, and construction industries and in mechanic shops. Girls recruited from rural areas for work in domestic service in urban cities are subjected to forced labor. Drug traffickers reportedly compel children to participate in the production and transportation of drugs in Morocco. Some family members and other intermediaries exploit Moroccan women in sex trafficking. Observers report Moroccans living in rural areas are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation by sex and labor traffickers as they seek other income sources due to severe drought. Some foreign nationals, primarily from Europe and the Middle East, engage in extraterritorial commercial child sexual exploitation and abuse in major Moroccan cities; NGOs report tourists exploit children in sex trafficking in Tangier in vacation rentals owned and managed by European nationals. Following the September 2023 Al Haouz earthquake, traffickers allegedly exploited children affected by the earthquake in sex and labor trafficking.

Documented and undocumented foreign migrants, especially women and children, are highly vulnerable to forced labor and sex trafficking in Morocco and as they transit through Morocco to reach Europe. Traffickers exploit undocumented migrants who voluntarily use smugglers to enter Morocco. In 2022, the government tightened border restrictions with Europe, which observers reported increased the vulnerability to trafficking of undocumented migrants in Morocco who could not return home. Sub-Saharan and Moroccan undocumented migrants clandestinely crossing from Morocco to the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta or the Canary Islands and further into Europe are at risk of trafficking in Morocco and Europe. For example, traffickers exploit some female migrants while seeking assistance at “safe houses” in Morocco, which usually are run by individuals of their own nationality. Some female undocumented migrants, primarily from sub-Saharan Africa, as well as a small but growing number from South Asia, are exploited in sex trafficking and forced labor in Morocco. Criminal networks operating in Oujda on the Algerian border and in northern coastal cities, such as Nador, exploit undocumented migrant women in sex trafficking and forced begging; networks in Oujda also reportedly exploit children of undocumented migrants in forced begging. Some female undocumented migrants, particularly Nigerians, who transit Oujda are exploited in sex trafficking once they reach Europe. NGOs report English-speaking Nigerian migrants are more vulnerable to trafficking due to language barriers. International organizations, local NGOs, and migrants report women and unaccompanied children are highly vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor in Morocco; the victims are typically the same nationality as the traffickers. Some women from the Philippines, Indonesia, and francophone sub-Saharan Africa are recruited for employment as domestic workers in Morocco, but upon arrival, employers force them into domestic servitude through non-payment of wages, withholding of passports, and physical abuse. International organizations reported approximately 90 percent of trafficking victims they identified in 2024 were Ivoirian women, mostly exploited in domestic servitude or sex trafficking. Media reports young Nigerian men and women are fraudulently recruited for soccer or other sports opportunities in Morocco before being exploited in sex or labor trafficking.

Traffickers exploit Moroccan adults and children in forced labor and sex trafficking, primarily in Europe and the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf states, such as United Arab Emirates and Oman. Traffickers force Moroccan women into commercial sex abroad where they experience indicators of trafficking, including restrictions on movement, threats, and emotional and physical abuse. Media reports Moroccan workers in Spain’s agricultural sector are subjected to forced labor and, at times, sexual abuse. Reports indicate vineyard operators in France lure Moroccan workers to jobs in French vineyards and subsequently subject them to abusive labor practices and forced labor. Third-party recruiters fraudulently recruit Moroccans for work in southeast Asia, particularly Burma, Laos, and, Cambodia, often using Thailand as a transit hub; once they arrive, traffickers confiscate the victims’ passports, subject them to inhumane conditions, and force them to conduct online scams operations.